The Air Force is considering a creative proposal that would have a private contractor front the cost for new B-52 engines with the service making repayments over the life of the engine through fuel efficiency savings.
Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements Lt. Gen. James Holmes told reporters Feb. 6 at the Pentagon the arrangement, which he called a “public-private partnership,” has been used in the past for military construction (MILCON) projects, but not airplanes. Holmes said there are “prudent” policy, legal and legislative hurdles to overcome in pursuit of such an arrangement with aircraft, but the Air Force is evaluating it.
Holmes said the Air Force’s current fiscal environment, which includes sequestration budget cuts and overall declining defense spending, forces the service to consider acquisition strategies other than familiar ones.
“To go out and buy engines for the B-52, you’d have a really hard time fitting that into our program,” Holmes said.
The Air Force in its fiscal year 2016 budget request asked for $149 million for B-52 modifications, down from the $176 million enacted in FY ’15. The Air Force has 76 B-52Hs in its inventory, according to Air Force budget justification books. The B-52H also has a certified service life of 27,701 flight hours with an average of 9,169 hours remaining as of January.
In addition to new engines, the Air Force is also pursuing a number of other B-52 modifications, including: enhanced data link (EDL), multi-mode receiver-2020 instrument landing system, anti-skid replacement, advanced weapon integration and Air Education and Training Command (AETC) trainers.
The B-52, developed by Boeing [BA], is powered by eight Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3/103 turbofan engines. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. [UTX]